The original purpose of businesses being on social media was to get a company’s message out to as many people as possible, with the goal to gain as many followers as possible. While these two aspects are still important when it comes to social media marketing, marketers have come to find that one of the most powerful aspects of social media is the opportunity to interact and engage with those that are communicating with your brand. Engagement is even more important than developing a large amount of followers or a large fan base because in a current environment where segmented audiences are becoming more and more important, making a connection with someone who is directly interested with your brand is much more important than having a large following that may not do anything further with your brand. In this blog post, we will go over what can actually be considered engagement on social media as well as why it is so important to do so.
What it Is
The word engagement has become a sort of buzz word in the social media world- we hear it all the time. What does it actually mean though? Engagement is anything that your audiences do to interact with your brand online, whether it be through comments, shares, likes, checking in at your location, etc. This is how your fans engage with you. In order to engage back, you can do several things as well. Of course, you can comment back to any comments that a particular person leaves you, but you can also return the favor. For instance, if they like or share some of your content, you can like or share something of theirs. You can even take it a step further by going and commenting on some of their things once you have noticed that they have liked some of yours. The point here is to let those that are engaging with you know that you notice and are interested in them and their wants and needs as well.
Its Importance
Engagement is important for several reasons. For one, it is a way to maintain and foster relationships with your existing fan base. When they see that you have taken the time to notice them and hear what they have to say, they will realize that they are important to you and you value them, making them more likely to remain happy with your company. Additionally, once your fans realize that you are engaging with them, they are likely to give you further insight on what you are doing well and what you could improve on since you have made it clear that they have your attention. This is especially helpful for you because learning genuine pieces of information from your consumers is always important, and it gives you a better idea of where you stand and what you could do differently.
Not only will engagement help you to maintain your fan base, it will help you spread your word even further. This can be through word of mouth, when a person expresses their satisfaction after hearing back from your brand, or simply by someone seeing the interaction on their own news feeds. When someone likes or comments on something of yours, someone who may not necessarily be following you will see this interaction, making them more inclined to want to see more, especially if they see a response from you. People are easily influenced by their friends, so this is very important.
Engagement has easily become one of the most important aspects of social media marketing, and it is something that definitely should not be ignored. Do you have input on the importance of engagement or how you engage with your audience? Feel free to leave it in the comments!
